Nikolaj an his GAME OF THRONES co-star Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy) are in the latest edition of VMan Magazine. I’m going to see if I can get a hold of it at the newstands for HQ scans for the gallery, but until I do I have the online version for you. Of his character Nikolaj had this to say:

Nikolaj, on relating to his character Jaime Lannister: “I am very different from Jaime, but I do understand him and why he acts the way he does. You cannot excuse pushing a kid out a window, and I don’t think Jaime would, but he believed that he was left with no option. I relate to being ready to go to extremes to protect my children. And I think Jaime for all his arrogance and sarcasm — is a man of strong morals. You just have to do a bit of digging to find them.”

The article went on to further state: [NOTE: Typos are the responsibility of the source, not this webmaster ]

ALL THE KING’S MEN

THE WILD SUCCESS OF HBO’S GAME OF THRONES HAS REWRITTEN THE LAWS OF THE TELEVISION DRAMA, DUE LARGELY TO ITS BRILLIANT SOURCE MATERIAL AND ITS DASHING, MASTERLY CAST

PHOTOGRAPHY CUNEYT AKEROGLU FASHION TOBY GRIMDITCH TEXT JUSTIN TAYLOR

Game of Thrones—which you probably know as a bloody, sexy, thrillingly unpredictable HBO drama now in its second season—started life as a novel by George R.R. Martin, the first in a projected trilogy called A Song of Ice and Fire. It was published in 1996 (a year before Harry Potter came out in the U.K., two years before it hit the States) and did pretty well for itself. The follow- up, A Clash of Kings, came out in 1999 and eventually made the New York Times best-seller list. By the time the third book, A Storm of Swords, debuted as a best seller, in 2000, Martin had realized he was going to need more than three books to tell his story of dragons, pal- ace intrigue, dynastic wars, smugglers, slave revolts, religious fanatics, international relations, incest, the undead, and maybe a snowbound apocalypse. A Feast for Crows came out in 2005 and was another best seller, even though it pissed off a significant chunk of his fan base. The problem, basically, was that Martin’s vision had gotten so big that the next installment no longer fit into a single book. He decided to break his story into two 900-plus-page books that would take place more or less simultaneously. Feast is set in the more familiar territory of Westeros, but almost all of its protagonists are characters whom fans regard as bit-players. All the major storylines from Clash, meanwhile, were left untold until Martin finally finished the companion volume, A Dance with Dragons, which came out in 2011—an 11-year cliffhanger! (And you thought almost two years between seasons of Mad Men was bad.)

So why have people stuck around? To put it as simply as I know how: because it’s worth it. Fans bitched and moaned on message boards, and some even tried to confront Martin directly, but when Dance came out they lined up around the block because the Ice and Fire story—whether in book or TV form—is spellbinding. It’s gritty, it’s dirty (sometimes filthy), it keeps you guess- ing, and it feels real. Unlike classic fantasy, where you can figure out who lives and dies based on the color of their armor or the amount of screen time they get (spoiler alert: Harry Potter and Frodo Baggins both live), Martin’s world is more like a sexed-up medieval version of The Wire: you get to know a wide range of characters and factions, each with their own agenda and sense of eth- ics (or lack thereof), and the master narrative unfolds almost anthropologically, as the aggregate effect of everyone’s shifting alignments and competing inter- ests. HBO has done a remarkable job of retaining that all-seeing, all-over-the-place feeling (the story comes to span multiple continents) while doing a lot of stream- lining, without which adaptation would be impossible. Weirdly, the books almost feel like a director’s cut of the show—you get all the same major characters and plot points plus extra helpings of back- and side-stories from extended or deleted scenes.

Another thing that makes Thrones like The Wire is you get the feeling that no character is safe. Viewers of sea- son one remember the “Holy shit!” moment when (okay, real spoiler alert this time) eddard Stark is executed at King’s landing. Here was the nearest thing the show had to a main character, and suddenly he was gone, and it wasn’t even the season finale. I can’t help but wonder how the show will handle the later books. The idea is that each season is based on its corresponding novel in the series, and that’ll be fine through book/season three, but if they try to reproduce the narrative split of books four and five, the show will be canceled. For bet- ter or worse, TV audiences—and, more importantly, TV executives—are not half as loyal as hardcore fantasy nerds. So it’ll be interesting to see how they handle that, as well as the ongoing expansion of the world in which the story is set. (You might have noticed that the map shown during the opening credits had a lot more places on it in season two than it did in season one. Geography is coming!) Major characters will die, minor characters will become major, battles will be waged and won (or lost), and daenerys Targaryen’s baby dragons won’t stay babies forever. What I mean is that one way or another there’s a lot more “Holy shit!” in store.

 

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Here finally is the media for Nikolaj’s recent episode of GAME OF THRONES. Finally an episode with Jaime. I’d have to say he was in good form with Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) in this episode. He also met Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie). I think I now know what Nikolaj meant when he said this was his best acting job to date. Jaime’s dialogue was perfect and Nikolaj delivered it pitch perfect. I loved his sarcasm with the “Dead Ned” part. I know it’s not nice but how Nikolaj performed it…sublime. A strong thank you has to go to Michelle Fairley for her strong performance as Catelyn. Without her I don’t think the scene would have been a potent. It was her reaction to Nikolaj that upped the “game” as it were. A special shout out too for four of Nikolaj’s co-stars. The first set of “thank yous” need to go to Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) and Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) for their excellence in the Harrenhal scenes. I’m loving their story so much. Anything to see Charles Dance is a good thing. Adding in Amazing Maisie just made it that much more special. The other kudos needs to go to Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) and Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister Baratheon) for their scene involving the discussion of Jaime. Honourable mention must also go to Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy) for his crazy turn. I really do think he’s come into his own. Problem is: I feel another death on the horizon. Yep, I think it’s going to be Theon.

• [ 1527 ] SCREENCAPS: GAME OF THRONES – E2X07 A MAN WITHOUT HONOR
• [ 0001 ] MEDIA CLIP: GAME OF THRONES – E2X07 A MAN WITHOUT HONOR

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Today’s countdown capture is from GAME OF THRONES episode four Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things. The line comes from Jaime’s brother Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) who states this to Robb Stark (Richard Madden), Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) and others at Winterfell when he explains his affinity for those like him. This scene with Nikolaj has Jaime standing guard outside Robert Baratheon’s (Mark Addy) bedchamber where The King entertains his prostitutes. Jaime reflects on Cersi’s (Lena Headey) shame as he stands watch.

• [ 303 ] SCREENCAPS: GAME OF THRONES – E1X04 CRIPPLES, BASTARDS AND BROKEN THINGS

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